If I consult with a flat fee I will include an amount of revisions allowed, any revisions beyond that point is billed at my hourly rate

I prefer to use an hourly rate if I am creating artwork for a project from scratch, that way it puts less pressure on the client about worrying about making changes - hourly fees for me are more for clients I feel would like to explore many creative directions and flat rates I reserve for things that are very straight forward or can be subcontracted out with very little direction.

Check out cleanfolio.com

They have a free version which pretty much crams deviantart down your throat and they also have a paid version where you can use your own url. I believe they have a back end set up so you can easily upload your images and have them pop up in thumbnails as you described.

Thank you FromTheSprawl!!

Ha, thank you Lemur

I'm actually not a designer, I'm an illustrator, but I do have a design background and try to help out where I can!

Hi black_yurizan,

To be honest, it takes as long as you make it take assuming you are good enough
There are plenty of design blogs, books and forums out there with tips on layout and design.

Before I became an Illustrator, I took a Graphic Design course at my local community college (2 year course) I actually don't remember much I learned from the course, the reality is, the degree is just formal training, and so that would take you 4 years, but if you can get by HR's "keywords" by say, applying to a small company where they would likely judge you by your portfolio, I think you could probably start working even today, and work your way up.

Here are some cool resources I've used for inspiration and layout basics:
http://designshack.net/
http://dribbble.com/

By the way, learning some HTML and CSS will also get you a long way, most of the "big" graphic designers are not being hired for just design per se anymore and knowing how to format for print doesn't seem to be enough as a lot of communication has transitioned to web and mobile
Check out lynda.com for tutorials on programs like dreamweaver and html tips etc.

Hope this helps